Path of Darkness
by MarisaRoseheart
Summary: The other side to the story of Kingdom Hearts, from Riku's point of view. Between his loneliness, his anger, his fear, his pain, he fails to see the darkness in his own heart until it is already too late... REPOSTED
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I actually started this fic last year and then discontinued it, but now I've revised it, so it's been reposted. Most of it's the same, but this time I figure I'll actually finish it :D

Anyway, for the record, I don't own any of these characters. Sadly enough, Square-Enix and Disney lay full claim. -sighs- In any case, enjoy.

* * *

_  
I don't want to touch the sky  
 I just want to feel that high   
But you refuse to lift me   
Guess it wasn't real after all   
Guess it wasn't real all along  
 If I fall, and all is lost  
 It's where I belong  
 _- Evanescence, Cloud Nine (from the album _The Open Door_)

* * *

It was stupid really.

To get this worked up over something he knew already. Something he'd always known. It wasn't a surprise, even when said full-out into someone's face. He should have expected it.

But it still hurt.

Riku ran his hands through his silvery hair, hands tightening around his ears, trying to block out her voice.

"I'm sorry," she'd said.

Was she, really? Why should she be? She'd done nothing wrong.

"You're my friend, Riku. But that's all."

He slid down his bedroom wall, sitting roughly on the floor. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against his knees.

_Get a grip_, he told himself.

As if it were that easy. The scene kept playing over and over in his head. Kairi. The cove. Those beautiful sapphire eyes, that perfect face, that perfect voice.

"I've made my choice."

Fine. So she'd chosen Sora. Didn't change the fact that they were best friends, had been best friends for years, just the three of them growing up together on the islands. They would always be best friends.

So why did he care so much?

"I've got to get out of here," he said to himself.

He ran down the stairs so fast it felt as though he would fall, face smashing against wooden floorboards, and for a split second Riku thought he wouldn't mind. Maybe that was what he needed. Something that would force everything else from his mind.

The little island was deserted when he rowed up and jumped out onto the dock. His was the only boat. That was fine with Riku. Usually Sora and Kairi would stay out here till long after sunset, but apparently they'd gone home early. _Don't think about it,_ he told himself.

The quiet was broken only by the soft rush of the waves and the gurgle of the waterfall. Riku leapt over the low wall and splashed through the pool, shoving his head under the water. Cold spray pounded down on his head, and for blissful moments he could think of nothing over the roar of the water.

But finally he pulled his head out to realize he was shivering. He climbed out of the pool and went to lay in the cradle of the paopu tree, staring at the sky. For the first time since Kairi had spoken to him on the dock, he began to feel angry.

_What does she even see in him?_ he wondered. _A weakling kid who pouts and thinks the world will bow down for him. I'm better than him at everything. And she picks him. Well, serve her right if he's not what she thinks he is._

He came to another realization._ I bet Sora's thrilled. He never __would__ think about how I feel. Selfish, self-centered, self-serving, self-righteous. Best friends? Ha. He'd forget me in a second if it meant spending more time with __her__._

He had too much energy; he couldn't sit still. Angrily he stood; his feet carried him to the secret place under the tree, into the cavern he and Sora had played in when they were little. Once upon a time, Sora had thought there was a monster here.

Something was different now, though. Where once there had only been blank wall, there was now a rough wooden door, out of place in this dank, musty place. As he looked, shadows seemed to be oozing from the crack between the door and the wall, spilling out like a thicky, murky liquid.

But that couldn't be true, since this door couldn't possibly go anywhere. Riku knew for a fact that the only thing on the other side of that wall was the beach. He blinked furiously, shaking his head.

There was a rumble from outside, that sounded distinctly like thunder.

"A storm?" he whispered, running back outside, and sure enough, he could see flashes of lightning playing over the clouds. He'd always loved thunderstorms, loved watching the lightning play over the clouds, beautiful but dangerous.

With a jolt, he realized the finished raft was still at the cove. He started to go tie it up, but a thought stopped him. _Who cares if it gets destroyed?_ he realized angrily. _It's better than being stuck on a raft with the two of __them__, all lovey-dovey. I __hope__ it gets destroyed. I hope they're here to see it, too._

He looked up again. The clouds had taken on an eerie purple-red color. This was no normal storm.

A strange echoing sounded from behind him, and he turned to see a strange whitish-gray door where the entrance to the secret place had been. _Where did that come from?_

As he looked, it opened.

Heavy footsteps sounded on the dock. Riku didn't have to look to recognize Sora's walk. He stood up angrily and stared out over the ocean, propping his hands on his hips.

The storm whirled around him, and it seemed just perfect. As if the anger, the hate inside him had broken out into the world. He could feel it in his very blood. This was it. The night he was finally leaving. The night he wouldn't have to be trapped here any more.

Sora's footsteps slapped on the bridge behind him. "Where's Kairi?" his friend shouted. "I thought she was with you!"

_She was,_ Riku thought. _But you changed all that._

"The door has opened," he said. He could sense it. Whatever force had been keeping them locked up on this island was gone. They were free. This storm had done that. Maybe they wouldn't be able to come back… but there was nothing for him here anyway.

"What?" his so-called friend asked.

"The door has opened, Sora," Riku repeated, turning to face him. At the sight of Sora's face, all the anger seemed to disappear, replaced by the thrill of departure. "Now we can go to the outside world!"

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kairi!"

"Kairi's coming with us!" Riku said forcefully. Sora fell silent. "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back." He looked back up at the sky. "But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

At his words, he felt the ground shift under his feet, the darkness between worlds welcoming him in. He smiled. It was just like he had imagined it. He held out his hand to Sora.

"Riku…" Sora murmured, hesitating.

The darkness engulfed Riku. He could feel its power spreading across his skin. Sora reached for his hand, but it was too late. Riku slipped through the dark portal, and it closed behind him.

"Too slow," he muttered.

* * *

When had it all started?

"_Riku?"_

He'd always been more prone to trouble than Sora. Sora was 'the good kid', Riku 'the tough guy'. He'd always been stronger, but that wasn't all. Riku had a certain pride, a self-confidence that gangly, awkward, naïve Sora never had. When they were little, Riku was always the leader, the one who might have gotten them into trouble but always got them back out.

"_I want to talk to you," Kairi said. "Do you have a minute?"_

But those sapphire-blue eyes could undo even Riku's rock-steady calm.

"_For you, I have __two__ minutes," he replied cheerily, tossing aside the rope he'd been knotting._

"_Thanks," she said with a small smile._

"_What's up?" he asked casually._

Maybe it had been the arrogance that was his undoing. He'd assumed she would be his. He was stronger, cooler, more self-assured. And definitely more mature. Not to mention less lazy.

"_Earlier today…" Kairi began. "When you and Sora raced. You made a bet."_

"_As usual," Riku agreed, chuckling. The lie came easily. "The name of the raft. And who got to be captain."_

"_No," she said firmly. "About me."_

_The bottom of his stomach seemed to drop to the ground._

But he never would have called it love. He was only fifteen, for crying out loud. It was just hormones, the way he wanted to reach out and stroke that soft red hair. Wanted to wrap his arms around her slender body. Wanted to crush her lips with his.

"_About the paopu," she went on. "I know you thought I couldn't hear."_

_He ducked his head, the picture of sheepishness. "Sorry," he said truthfully. "It was dumb. I know you're better than that. Not a prize, and all. It was a mean joke to play." Not to mention I lost, Riku thought._

"_It's not only that," Kairi told him. "I… I've been meaning to tell you this for a while."_

Not love. But what, then? They'd been friends for nine years, grown up together. Surely that counted for something. Something more than just brotherly love.

"_I know… well, Selphie's told me… that you like me. You and Sora both."_

_Girls. So damn __perceptive__. He knew he'd never liked Selphie._

"_And… it's only fair I should tell you… I've made my choice," Kairi said apologetically. "I… I like Sora."_

_Forget the bottom of his stomach; he felt as if all his insides had been set on fire, ripped to pieces, and then torn out of him. By Edward Scissorhands._

"_More than just a friend," she went on. "Not that I don't like you. You're my friend, Riku. But that's all."_

Maybe he didn't want it to be 'that's all'. Maybe he wasn't okay with being just a friend. Not that she'd care. Neither of them ever cared about how he felt.

"_I'm sorry," she told him._

Words. So easy to say, so meaningless. Petty lies to cover up ugly truths, to make it seem alright. But it could never be alright.

"_Does Sora know?" he asked finally._

"_Not yet," she admitted._

"_But he feels the same way." It wasn't a question._

"_I think so."_

_Riku turned away so she wouldn't see his rage, his hatred, his pain. "Okay," he said._

_Kairi touched his shoulder, but he shrugged her off. "Leave me alone."_

She had to have known how much it would hurt him. But obviously she didn't care.

So neither would he.

He forced the memory out of his mind, and Kairi's voice was replaced by another.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"

His eyes snapped open.

The woman was tall, towering over him as he lay flat on his back on a cold stone floor. Her skin was an eerie, pale green, and she was robed entirely in black. The whites of her snakelike eyes were sickly yellow.

Riku shot to his feet, tensing as if for a fight. "Who are you?" he demanded suspiciously.

She arched her eyebrows. "A question I should be asking you, seeing as which you are intruding in my castle."

He scowled. "Name's Riku. Where the heck am I? Is this another world?"

False shock played across her face. "You are from another world? Poor creature." She crossed over to him, cupping his face in one hand, making his skin crawl. "You must be so tired. Come, rest. You will be safe here... Riku."

"You still haven't told me where I am or who the crap you are," he pointed out. She sent chills running down his spine... but he could deal with outright creepiness. It was the pretty ones you couldn't trust. The pretty ones could betray you when you least expected it. With creepy, at least you knew it was coming.

Long green fingers drummed a jeweled scepter. "You are in Hollow Bastion," she said. "And my name is Maleficent."

* * *

**review, please :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_Tonight my head is spinning  
I need something to pick me up  
I've tried but nothing is working  
I won't stop, I won't say I've had enough  
Break away from everybody  
Break away from everything  
If you can't stand the way this place is  
Take yourself to higher places  
-Three Days' Grace, "Break"

* * *

_

"This 'Sora' seems to be rather a selfish little child," Maleficent observed.

"Not usually," Riku mused, leaning against the wall, "but lately he has been. If anything, he's just lazy. I mean, that raft we built? That was all me. Sure, he ran around and found all the stuff, but I was the one who actually put it together."

Maleficent's castle wasn't too bad, once you got used to it. Dark, but kind of pretty, in an eerie way.

"Yes, a raft," Maleficent said. "What a charming idea. You must know, even if you had left together as planned, that raft wouldn't have taken you to any world outside your own. Something as simple as a raft cannot breach the boundaries between worlds."

Riku stood up a little straighter. "You sure know a lot about the worlds and stuff, huh?"

Maleficent smiled magnanimously. "I make it my business to know," she answered. "One cannot be as powerful a sorceress as I am and not know what it is they are affecting."

"So… do you know what happened to me? Why I came here?" he asked.

"I am sorry," Maleficent said. "But… it is most likely that your world was destroyed."

Riku's heart skipped a beat. "…Destroyed?" he managed. "But – how?"

He'd wanted to leave the islands, it was true, but that didn't mean he wanted them destroyed.

"Someone or something in your world lured a terrible, dark power there. The power of darkness is insurmountable, but it is very difficult to control. Many who wield it find themselves conquered by it. Whoever or whatever called the darkness to your world…" Her voice trailed off.

"Lost control of it," Riku finished quietly.

_But who? Who could have done that?_

"So how did I end up here?" he asked.

"It must mean you have a heart of great power," Maleficent mused. "When a world is destroyed, usually its inhabitants lose their hearts to the darkness. Your heart proved strong enough to open a pathway within the darkness and bring you here."

"I didn't mean to," he said.

"A heart is not something easily controlled," Maleficent told him.

"So Kairi and Sora's heart were…" Riku couldn't bring himself to finish.

"Who can say?" she answered. "If their hearts were as strong as yours, they may have ended up in other worlds."

"How do I find them?" Riku demanded.

Maleficent arched her thin eyebrows. "Are you sure you want to?"

"Yes," he said immediately. For all his flaws, Sora was still his friend, and even if Riku wasn't all too happy with him at the moment, he at least had to make sure Sora was okay. And if anything were to happen to Kairi…

"As I have said, I possess no little skill in the sorcerous arts," Maleficent reminded him. "If you like, I could help you to find them."

"Yes," Riku answered. "Please."

"It will take some time," she told him. "I shall inform you when I have found them."

* * *

What now?

Riku lay on the bed Maleficent had given him and stared moodily at the ceiling. He'd gotten off the island, but he still felt trapped.

_So what? It's not like I'm a prisoner, right? I'm a guest. And she didn't say I couldn't explore._

He launched himself off the bed and noticed the witch's sword across the room. It was a strange-looking weapon, red and blue and black, with a wickedly curved blade.

"It arrived here shortly before you did," Maleficent had told him. "I think it was meant for you."

He picked it up, testing its weight. It was heavier than the wooden sword he used to play with, but it fit his grip. He whipped it through the air experimentally. It was fast and felt the hilt was an inscription in jagged letters.

"Soul Eater, huh?" he read. "Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into around here."

* * *

Hollow Bastion had entirely too many hallways, he decided.

It was like a giant maze. Winding in circles, sometimes leading outside the walls, sometimes forcing him to use one of a dozen or so lifts that all looked the same and all went in different directions.

And the creatures…

They were everywhere. Little black shadow-wraiths; flying cone-things of red, green, yellow or blue; giant monsters with shields for heads; floating wizards with floppy hats and miniature staffs; helmeted soldiers that clanked when they moved. Everywhere he went, they watched him, never making a move against him but still ever-present. He kept his distance.

Riku found himself face-to-face with a gaggle of them as he re-entered the great hall. He crossed his arms, trying to decide if he should push through them or attempt to find another way back to his room.

"I see you've met the Heartless," said Maleficent from behind him.

Riku had become used to her appearing out of nowhere. "What are they?"

"Shadows," the witch replied. "When a person loses their heart, the darkness inside them becomes a Heartless. They are creatures of darkness, who prey upon the keepers of light. They are always seeking hearts to consume, to add to the darkness within them."

"Why haven't they attacked me?"

Maleficent raised her eyebrows. "They are in my castle, and therefore under my jurisdiction. My control. But one must always be careful with the Heartless. They are known to turn on any master weak of heart."

Riku nodded. "Did you find Sora and Kairi?"

"No," Maleficent said. "I merely thought I would tell you what I have learned. There is a world known as Traverse Town, in which many survivors of fallen worlds have gathered. Your friend Sora was there, for a time… but by the time I had detected his presence, he had already moved on."

"Moved on?" Riku demanded. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It seems he acquired some new friends, who took him to another world," the witch told him. "I lost track of them in the space between worlds."

Riku gave an angry swipe to Soul Eater. "So now what?" he growled.

"No doubt he will return to Traverse Town eventually," Maleficent answered. "He has friends there."

"Seems like he's making a lot of new friends," Riku muttered.

"Indeed," Maleficent agreed. "Perhaps he thinks he can replace you."

"We'll see about that," he said under his breath. "Alright… send me there."

"To Traverse Town?" Maleficent asked.

"Yeah," he said. "If Sora's gonna show up there, I want to be ready for him when he does."

Maleficent was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Of course. I will alert you when he is close to returning to Traverse Town."

"What, so I'm just supposed to sit here and wait?" Riku shot, but she was already gone.

* * *

Riku hardly slept that night, plagued by dreams of Heartless and Kairi's voice, repeating "I've made my choice" endlessly, until finally he gave up on sleep altogether.

He wandered upstairs, to the quiet chapel he'd first arrived in, and was startled to hear voices – several of them. He'd thought Maleficent and himself the only ones in the castle.

"That little squirt took down that Heartless," said the first voice. Male.

"Such is the power of the Keyblade," said another man, with an oily sort of voice. _Keyblade? What's that?_ Riku wondered. "The child's strength is not his own."

"Why don't we turn him into a Heartless?" suggested a woman. "That'll settle things quick enough."

_Who are they talking about?_ he thought. _Not me…_

"And the brat's friends are the king's lackeys," said yet another man, with an accent Riku couldn't quite place. "Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats by the look of them."

"You're no prize yourself," said a fourth man.

"Shut up!" threatened the man with the accent.

"Enough," said Maleficent, the only voice Riku recognized. "The Keyblade has chosen him. Will it be he who conquers the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him? Either way, he could be quite useful…"

Riku really hoped they weren't talking about him. What the heck was a Keyblade? And who was this kid they were talking about? For that matter, who were these people?

"Enjoying yourself?"

It took every ounce of willpower Riku had to keep himself from jumping. Maleficent had come up behind him again. He turned around, trying not to feel like a kid caught eavesdropping. Which he was.

"Who are those people?" he demanded.

"Friends," Maleficent answered simply. "Of a sort. We are working towards a common goal."

It was clear by her tone of voice that she didn't intend to tell him what that goal was. "And who were they talking about?"

The witch's yellow eyes glittered. "You don't know? He's your friend. Sora."

It took Riku a moment to process that. "What was that thing you were talking about? The… Keyblade."

"It is a weapon of great strength," Maleficent told him. "But it can be very dangerous, in the wrong hands."

"How'd Sora get it?" Riku wanted to know.

Maleficent's yellow eyes glittered. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"You found him?"

"Not exactly," Maleficent amended. "But he should be returning to Traverse Town soon. Would you like to see him?" A gaping hole appeared in the air behind the witch, a writhing mass of darkness that seemed to empty into nowhere.

Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped through the portal.

* * *

The city was small and cozy, surrounded by walls but open to the sky. He looked up, but couldn't find any of the constellations he knew.

"I guess I am pretty far from home," he said to himself.

He wandered aimlessly through a square designated 'Second District' by a rickety sign, past shops and a sparkling fountain, through an alley with a intricate door into 'Third District'.

An abandoned house overlooked a low plaza surrounded by walls. As he looked on, a few Soldier-Heartless appeared near the entrance to an adjoining alley. He remembered what Maleficent had said about the creatures. He wasn't in her castle anymore, which meant he was no longer safe from the Heartless. He vaulted over the low wall and destroyed them easily in one swing of Soul Eater, marveling in its strength. The Heartless vanished into darkness, and behind them stood a familiar figure.

Sora.

"There you are," Riku said offhandedly. "What's going on?"

Sora's face was frozen in a mask of shock. "Riku!" He lunged forward and grabbed Riku's face.

Riku knocked his hands away. "Hey, hey, cut it out."

It was almost surreal, being here face-to-face with Sora, acting as if nothing had happened. He wondered if Kairi had ever told him… _Don't go there_, he thought.

"I'm not dreaming this time, right?" Sora asked.

"I hope not. Took forever to find you," Riku said. He'd never admit it, but he'd been worried about the younger boy. He wasn't sure what he would've done if he'd been the only one to escape the islands.

"Riku!" Sora repeated, smiling this time. "Wait a second, where's Kairi?"

That threw him for a loop. "Isn't she with you?" he asked.

Sora hung his head, which was enough of an answer. "Well, don't worry," he shrugged. "I'm sure she made it off the island, too." He walked away from his friend, keeping casual. "We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us now." That at least was sincere. But Riku was willing to bet it would be Sora she was looking for. The lies were just falling from his lips now; he didn't even need to think about it. "We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this..." _stuff by heart by now, _he was about to say.

His sentence was interrupted by an exploding sound from behind him. Riku turned around in time to see a Heartless vanishing into darkness. Sora, looking smug, had evidently just killed it with the strange silver-and-gold weapon in his hands.

"Leave it to who?" the younger boy mocked.

Riku blinked. "Sora, what did you –"

"I've been looking for you, and Kairi, too, with their help," Sora told him.

_Isn't that nice,_ Riku thought bitterly. For the first time he looked at Sora's companions. One was a duck of some sort, the other a goofy-looking, person-sized dog.

"Who are they?" he asked, the familiar feeling of irritation taking root in the pit of his stomach.

The duck-thing cleared its throat. "My name is –"

Sora cut him off. "We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you."

"Really?" Riku said casually. He kept his face carefully blank. "Well, what do you know? I never would've guessed."

"Oh, and guess what?" said the dog-thing, putting gloved hands – or was it paws? – on the runt's shoulders. "Sora's the Keyblade master."

_Whatever __that__ means._

"Who would've thought it?" added the duck.

"What's that mean?" demanded Sora.

Riku picked up the silver-gold weapon. "So, this is called a Keyblade?" Well, now he knew what it looked like; he still didn't know what it did.

"Huh?" the kid asked stupidly. "Hey, give it back!" He made a dive for it and missed, falling facedown on the ground.

_So this is what you've been wasting your time doing. And here I was thinking you'd be worried about me. Figures. _Riku held it up, giving it one last good look, then shrugged. "Catch."

Sora caught the tossed weapon clumsily. "Okay, so, you're coming with us, right?" he asked. "We've got this awesome rocket. Wait 'til you see it!"

_I bet, _Riku thought angrily. _Out going for joyrides when Kairi's missing._

He was saved from making up an excuse when the duck spoke again. "No, he can't come!"

"What?" Sora spluttered.

_Of course he doesn't want me to come,_ he fumed. _I mean, I might mess up their happy-happy-joy-joy adventure. Well isn't that nice._

"Forget it!" the duck replied adamantly.

"Come on, he's my friend!" Sora argued, but Riku was already running, away from the stupid kid he'd once called 'friend'.

"I don't care," he heard, and then nothing but his footsteps, and the angry, betrayed beats of his own heart.

* * *

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